http://interact.stltoday.com/blogzone/tube-talk/tube-talk/2010/02/amazing-race-the-stupid-season/‘Amazing Race’: the stupid seasonBy Gail PenningtonSt. Louis Post-Dispatch*spoilers below*Oh, how hilariously dumb many of the contestants on the new “Amazing Race” are. We expected as much from Jordan, the “Big Brother” winner who’s racing with Jeff, her hookup from the house. After all, Jordan once admitted she has trouble telling time from a clock. And we knew Caite, the former Miss Teen South Carolina who gave that infamous garbled speech about geography, might not be particularly bright — especially when playing a game that’s all about geography. But in Sunday night’s opener, we also got the cowboys, who headed for Chile with Brazilian money because, well, it’s all in the same direction, right? And the baseball coach and his daughter who, in one of the episode’s highlights, invaded a house and painted a wall, to the bafflement of the real painter, when they were supposed to be painting a patch on the outside of a house in Santiago. As for Jordan, except for being sure they were heading to China instead of Chile, she came through pretty well with the help of Jeff. He’s not necessarily the brightest bulb, either; he had no clue what a “funicular” was, but at least he asked, and took it, as opposed to Caite and her model-boyfriend, who just ran down the hill and incurred a penalty. Husband-wife Dana and Adrian were eliminated first because of his bad decision to do a wire-walking Roadblock. (“I’m the big dog,” he said — and yeah, he was apparently too big to walk across that wire.) We’ll start to get a better idea about the teams next week, but so far I’m thinking the grandmother-granddaughter triathletes might go soon, along with the bumbling undercover detectives. You?

It used to be that watching The Amazing Race was about the race itself: the places they go to, the oddities they experience, the fact that armchair travelers like me can go "woot!" at it all. Now, sixteen seasons in, it's about the racer. When the eleven teams approach the starting line, I start thinking about how they'll deal with the race: the ones that annoy the hell out of you, the ones that become an easy favorite, and the ones that run a race so solid, you can predict their win from the very beginning.

This season's teams quite an interesting bunch. There are the familiar faces: Jordan and Jeff from Big Brother, and Brent and Caite... well, it's Caite who's famous for going "South Africa, and the Iraq, everywhere like such as" on us three years ago. In between, there's your usual married couple, parent-child team, sibling team (although one of them, the other Jordan of the season, is gay)... and cowboys, and a triathlete grandma-grandkid pair and undercover detectives, and a lesbian couple. Interesting bunch, more or less.

Phil's little twist on the starting line: We start in Los Angeles again, where Phil tells the teams that they have to race to the airport using public transportation. The first three teams to hit LAX will get tickets to the first flight, while the rest have to settle for the next flight an hour later. Their destination: Chile.

But the idea of public transportation has some of the teams flustered. The lesbian couple, Carol and Brandy, started dreaming of valet parking. (Then again, I do understand LA is a struggle when it comes to buses.) Joe's confident because he knows the downtown area, so he decides to take a train to the buses. Bringing three other teams with him, he's confident that they'll get slots to the first flight. Well, not really: the easiest (and fastest) way is a bus going straight to LAX a few blocks from the starting line.

Imagine Joe's face when he learns that the first flight is full. I had the urge to go "ha-ha!" like Nelson from The Simpsons. While waiting, the other Jordan launched his impression of Caite (yes, that "everywhere like such as" line again), causing an awkward moment. Carol and Brandy barely missed out on the first flight, and started praying for a "major mechanical failure". It did happen: the three teams on the first flight--"mompreneurs" Monique and Shawne, high school sweethearts Dana and Adrian, and Jordan and Jeff--were forced to move to the second flight after their plane was delayed. Hello again, bottleneck.

Hanging on to dear life in Chile: Or, as female Jordan was absolutely convinced of, China. ("We need tickets to China." Poink.) Upon touching down, they have to take a bus to the city of Valparaiso, some 60 miles away from the capital, Santiago. The cowboys, Jet and Cord, got delayed since the bus driver refused to accept their Brazilian money. (So much for the logic that they'll be accepted in Chile because they're close to each other.) Brent and Caite were the firs to get their clue--at the Ascensor Villaseca, one of the city's famed funiculars, which is pretty much like a cable car running on steep slopes--and were faced with a Roadblock.

Simply said, it's cablewalking. Specifically, it's walking on a cable as long as a football field and raised 120 feet off the ground. Caite breezes through it, never mind the very windy conditions, finishing first. Female Jordan was close behind. Dan struggled with the wind and lost his balance, but he was lucky to have caught the cable, so he had to drag himself to the end. Brandy was pumped before the deed, but had a panic attack halfway through.

They're not making this paint job as easy as it should be: Brent and Caite were the first to finish (and male Jordan admits he underestimated the beauty queen) so they had to take a funicular down to the next clue box. They did get the clue, but they walked to get there. (Male Jordan, you can take what you said back now.) Next stop: a row of painted houses along Templeman Street, where they have to grab painting supplies and paint a portion of the house they're assigned to. Isn't it cool, Phil's story, of the government constantly having these houses painted?

The hard part is looking for the houses: the frontrunners were literally walking around in circles. So hard, in fact, that Dan and Jordan lost their paintbrushes on the way. Once you get past that, it's a pretty easy task: the unpainted portion of the wall's just a three-foot square. Jordan and Jeff finished first, and breezed to the pit stop at the Palacio Baburizza, earning them a trip to Vancouver. Brent and Caite were close behind, but they were slapped with a 30-minute penalty at the pit stop for not taking the funicular earlier.

Still, the painting didn't go smoothly for everyone. Louie and Michael were painting over graffiti on a blue wall, perhaps a throwback to their civil service background. Steve and Allie, on the other hand, must've missed the instructions completely and painted the inside walls of someone else's house! (Then again, it's a red wall, and they have red paint.) The person in charge's annoyed at the entry, but ended up laughing because the team "don't know how to paint". It took them a while to realize they're doing it wrong--Allie was already looking for the next clue.

Who's the unluckiest person? Definitely Adrian, who got stuck with the cables. See, he's a big dude, and he's afraid of heights, but he's doing the Roadblock for the love of Dana. (Aww shucks.) Add the windy conditions and you know he'll definitely lose balance. Unlike earlier, though, he totally fell off the cable and was hanging by his harness. The safety experts brought him back to the starting line, where he tried, and promptly fell again. All the other teams have finished at this point, so it's pretty obvious where this leads.

Monique and Shawne finished in second, while Jet and Cord caught up from their Brazilian mistake and finished third. Dan and Jordan arrived fourth, but they were slapped a 15-minute penalty for losing the paintbrushes; they ended in eighth. Brent and Caite eventually finished seventh. Steve and Allie were fourth; Joe and Heidi were fifth; Carol and Brandy were sixth; Louie and Michael were ninth; and Jody and Shannon were tenth.

And the last team at the pit stop: Dana and Adrian. Well, they didn't really make the pit stop. Phil just visited them and told them they were eliminated. It sucks leaving first. It sucks leaving without finishing the leg. By the laws of mathematics, those two together? That sucks a lot more.

So, after day one, I'm growing fond of Jody, curious about who between Caite and female Jordan will reign supreme, and interested in all these budding bromances. Louie and Michael? Jet and Cord? Dan and Jordan? Oh, wait, I'm not sure about the last one.

Next week: We continue in Chile, where teams form alliances and people get shut out. It depends on who's shut out, really. I might like it. I might not.

Among television's many unscripted shows, "The Amazing Race" has distinguished itself by winning all seven Emmy Awards bestowed to date for outstanding reality competition program. Under the guidance of host and producer Phil Keoghan, another set of couples has begun an international path to the $1 million grand prize in the just-started 16th season Sundays on CBS.

"I remember that in the beginning, I was exhausted after the press I did for season one," Keoghan reflects, "because we were literally having to explain everything to people. It must have sounded like some crazy idea … well, it was, but I think people couldn't quite comprehend what we were setting out to do. Thankfully, we came through that first season, and people went, 'Oh, OK. I get it. These people really are racing around the world.'

"Now there's a following that's increasing," Keoghan adds, "which is really ridiculous when you think about it. How many shows are out there that actually have more people connected to it than in the earlier seasons? That doesn't really happen."

Currently, "Amazing Race" viewers are watching teams including Jordan Lloyd and Jeff Schroeder, who were houseguests together on CBS' "Big Brother" last summer. Also competing along with her boyfriend is Caitlin Upton, a former Miss Teen South Carolina who made headlines in 2007 by botching her answer to a pageant question on geography.

If Keoghan isn't supposed to play favorites, he can't help himself this time.

"We have a couple of narcotics agents (from Providence, R.I.) who are just characters," he says. "They're just fun to be around, wide-eyed about the idea of going around the world.

"I love that every season, we have such enthusiasm and energy at the starting line. It's one of my favorite moments in the whole production, looking at these teams that are almost like wild animals about to get out of a cage. There's that incredible sense of anticipation, of going into the unknown."

I think Victor Jih is a fine racer and worthy winner. However, where does he get off telling us the obvious in his article for a "higher publication" above? The fact that Adrian and Dana both screwed up and caused their own demise is quite obvious. Who else would you choose? Clearly, nobody on any other team. Victor, try harder to come up with something interesting. Your ability to do that for AR15 provided major value to me. We need the same for AR16.

For those of you who don't get to see the official CBS press releases that come from the official CBS corporate site, I thought I would mention something new they're doing this season in the press releases for each episode.

CBS is now including a team photo besides each team member's name and description. color, no less, with a clear background. It actually looks pretty cool visually.

For those of you who don't get to see the official CBS press releases that come from the official CBS corporate site, I thought I would mention something new they're doing this season in the press releases for each episode.

CBS is now including a team photo besides each team member's name and description. color, no less, with a clear background. It actually looks pretty cool visually.

For those of you who don't get to see the official CBS press releases that come from the official CBS corporate site, I thought I would mention something new they're doing this season in the press releases for each episode.

CBS is now including a team photo besides each team member's name and description. color, no less, with a clear background. It actually looks pretty cool visually.

Is there a way we can gain access to this site? If so, what is the URL?

Logged

"The authority of example and considerations of character, unlike pudding, are not whipped up in an instant." - Neal A. Maxwell

Click on the underlined link in the middle column for "Press Bundles". While it'll have the most recent date of released press bundles. It will take you to a page listing all of the press releases in reverse chronological order, 20 items per page.

The releases for TAR will be self-evident. In order to open those document(s), you have to have Microsoft Word on your computer. Clicking on the link will download the Word document and then open it in Microsoft Word.

As to photos, There may be some on that home page, but to look at the sets, it appears you have to have a user name and password. I don't have one, so I can't tell you about those.

BTW, this is the site where CBS posts their press releases about overnight and weekly Nielsen ratings. And from what I've been able to tell the bundle Word document links remain available for about a month.

Click on the underlined link in the middle column for "Press Bundles". While it'll have the most recent date of released press bundles. It will take you to a page listing all of the press releases in reverse chronological order, 20 items per page.

The releases for TAR will be self-evident. In order to open those document(s), you have to have Microsoft Word on your computer. Clicking on the link will download the Word document and then open it in Microsoft Word.

As to photos, There may be some on that home page, but to look at the sets, it appears you have to have a user name and password. I don't have one, so I can't tell you about those.

BTW, this is the site where CBS posts their press releases about overnight and weekly Nielsen ratings. And from what I've been able to tell the bundle Word document links remain available for about a month.

Logged

Singaporean here - PM me, if you need me to translate, Chinese, Malay, English, German or Japanese

Click on the underlined link in the middle column for "Press Bundles". While it'll have the most recent date of released press bundles. It will take you to a page listing all of the press releases in reverse chronological order, 20 items per page.

The releases for TAR will be self-evident. In order to open those document(s), you have to have Microsoft Word on your computer. Clicking on the link will download the Word document and then open it in Microsoft Word.

As to photos, There may be some on that home page, but to look at the sets, it appears you have to have a user name and password. I don't have one, so I can't tell you about those.

BTW, this is the site where CBS posts their press releases about overnight and weekly Nielsen ratings. And from what I've been able to tell the bundle Word document links remain available for about a month.

Before I crown the biggest mistake, I have to give the cowboys some love. Instead of waiting around for a direct bus, they were smart enough to look for other options. Jeff and Jordan did the same thing, but the cowboys did not rest on their laurels, patting themselves on the back with their great strategic move. They kept vigilant and pulled ahead of every other team. Once they got the lead, they never looked back. Let’s be honest: who thought Jeff and Jordan and Jet and Cord would be the two biggest threats?

Didn't know where to put this....just something of interest...A 8.3 earthquake just struck near Concepcion, Chili. Concepcion is about about mid-way between Santiago and Puerta Varas and about 40ish miles east from the main highway connecting the two cities